Oral Histories

 Euzelle and R.D. Smith - On daycare (clip)

 Euzelle Smith - On teaching in South Carolina (clip)

 Euzelle Smith - On putting her children in daycare and cooking (clip)

Euzelle Smith (ES): My mother-in-law didn't particularly want to put them in daycare. She said she would rather keep them. But I wanted them to start getting used to being with other children. And learning how to mingle and associate. And when the twins went to nursery… to daycare at two, the first…

 Euzelle and R.D. Smith - On food and cooking

R.D. and Euzelle Smith have lived in Pottersfield in Chapel Hill since the 1940s. Both worked as educators in Chapel Hill for decades, and R.D. served as a member of the Town Council. They then became the namesakes for Smith Middle School when it was constructed. This interview was done as part of…

 Reginald D. Smith, II - On his parents career in education

 R. D. Smith - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill

Audio recordings of interviews conducted by Yonni Chapman with participants in the African American freedom struggle and the civil rights movement in and around Chapel Hill, N.C.

 R. D and Euzelle Smith

This interview is part of a group of interviews conducted by Susan Simone exploring the lives and struggle of various members of the Northside community: a historically black and primarily residential neighborhood located immediately northwest of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and…

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - Introductions (clip)

 R.D. Smith - On his military service (clip)

 R.D. Smith - On the 933rd anti-aircraft unit (clip)

 R.D. Smith - On building his house (clip)

 R.D. Smith - On the sitting room (clip)

 R.D. Smith - On his nickname at Lincoln High (clip)

 R.D. Smith and Euzelle Smith - Explaining his nickname (clip)

 R.D. Smith - On how he learned about carpentry and construction (clip)

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On paying for housing (clip)

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On their careers prior to marriage (clip)

R.D. Smith (RDS): I refused the promotion. I said I want to go home. To my wife. We’d been married for … how long we’d been married for? Euzelle Smith (ES): Well, we married in ‘43, and you came out in, came out of service in ‘46. RDS: I know, I know. But we’d been married for what, about two…

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On the history of Northside Elementary (clip)

Alexander Stephens (AS): You said, where exactly was the Orange County Training School in relation to here? Euzelle Smith (ES): It’s right up on the hill there, what is now Northside. That school was Orange County Training School when we came here, and then in the – well, I guess I came here in ‘43…

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On her first year in Chapel Hill (clip)

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On Pottersfield (clip)

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On living outside of city limits (clip)

Euzelle Smith (ES): This area was— was not in the city limits. We had no paved streets, no city services, the nearest traffic light was at the corner of McDade and Church. No fire protection, no garbage pickup, no city services at all. And it was long after that when, I remember when, one summer, we…

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On roads and traffic (clip)

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - Their grandson Sean (clip)

 R.D. and Euzelle Smith - On their neighbours (clip)

Alex Biggers (AB): Are you guys close with a lot of your neighbors? Euzelle Smith (ES): Hm? AB: Are you guys close with a lot of your neighbors? ES: No, no, not many. Most of them are tenants. Alexander Stephens (AS): What is your relationship with them? Is it a lot of students now? ES: Yeah a lot…